Gaara's Story: Fall of a Kazekage
by shadowxs160
Summary: When Gaara is framed for murder he loses his postion as Kazekage. In an attempt to prove himself innocent and reclaim title of village leader, Gaara is determined to find the true culprit. Rated M: Violence, language, character death, and dramatic themes.
1. As The Kazekage

**Gaara's Story: Fall of a Kazekage**

**As the Kazekage...**

I was sitting there with my arms tied behind my back. I was tied to a chair, and they didn't even give me my gourd for comfort. Well... that's because they knew I'd get out. I was behind bars for a crime I didn't commit. I don't see how those fools at the council could even do this to the Kazekage. I've been tied up for hours now. They took any kunai or sharp objects on my possession so I couldn't cut my way out. I was able get close enough to the wall so I could see through a tiny peep hole.

"The Fifth Kazekage has murdered newly appointed Head Councilman Mousetsu Kyoukou, and as soon as our forensics team is finished examining his body Gaara will be sentenced to execution."

"You can't do that!" Kankuro shouted.

Execution? I never killed anyone... recently.

"There is no motive here." Kankuro argued. "Why would he do such a thing?

"Councilman Kyoukou wanted to rid the Kazekage of his status. Gaara was protecting his throne." The other council member said.

"You have no proof my brother killed him!"

The door squeaked open. Everyone looked over and saw Temari walk in with the report.

"Well?" The councilman asked.

"..."

"Temari?" Kankuro walked over to her.

"Councilman Kyoukou's body was completely crushed." She stated in a low voice. "Most of his bones were dust by the time he was picked up. He was crushed in a way that only... the Kazekage's Sand Burial could. Gaara murdered him."

"How can you say that?" Kankuro yelled.

Temari pulled a small bag out of her pocket. "This was found mixed in with his ashes; sand."

"This has to be a set up."

"Sorry, Kankuro but your brother can no longer be our leader if he decides he can just kill anyone."

"Gaara's not like that anymore, right sis?"

"...There were witnesses saying that the Head Councilman confronted Gaara on the roof. It's possible Gaara killed him out of rage, although it's very unlikely since he became Kazekage."

"Still, we know of his past aggression and we have all the evidence against him we need him we need. Guards bring him in."

I could hear their foot steps, they were coming. I had to act fast. I looked around the room; there was nothing I could do. The guards, my guards, untied me and escorted me to the room next door. They shoved me and I fell onto my knees. I looked up and saw my siblings; their shadows hung over me. My brother looked down at me in sympathy; my sister in uncertainty.

"Gaara of the Desert..." Temari began stammering. "Y-You are accused of murdering Head Councilman, Viceroy Mousetsu Kyoukou. How do you plead?"

"..."

"How do you plead?" 2nd Councilman Kurushimi yelled.

"...Fuck you." I muttered.

"You insolent whelp. How dare you, you vile demon?" He went to slap me across the face.

"Nice try."

My sand acted as a shield and then stabbed him through the hand.

"Damn you!" He retracted his hand.

In the other room my gourd turned back into sand and slid through the rooms until it returned to me on my back. I stood up and walked over to my window. It was my window because it was my office in _my _village! "You fools don't know anything!" I said in a voice that seemed more sinister than my usual tone. I motioned my hand towards the window and my sand broke straight through it. I huge gust of wind flew into the room and knocked everyone one back. I turned to them; the council, my siblings. The wind was so loud they couldn't hear me. But I'm pretty sure they could read my lips. "Catch. Me. If. You. Can." With that I jumped out the window back first into the night. We were on the top floor of the Kazekage mansion, so I made a jump of about 11 stories high. I turned around in mid-air. Kankuro ran to the window and stared down at me falling. I moved my arms in a waving motion and mad my hand-sign. "Ninja Art, Sand Shatter." From anyone else it would look like my body was shattering like glass into sand particles. With this jutsu I was able to travel as fast as the wind would take me.

Back at the tower Kankuro was arguing with the council once more.

"You bastards!" He shouted. He pulled out a scroll and summoned Salamander. "I'm going after my brother."

"You can't! You're our secretary of defense." 2nd Councilman Kurushimi yelled.

"You're going to kill Gaara and rid of him as Kazekage, but you're going to keep us." He flipped him off. "C'mon, Temari."

"...I can't." Temari said sorrowfully.

"What?"

"I'm the liaison of the villages. I can't leave."

Kankuro glared needles at her. "You're going to let our little brother out in the cold dessert, alone? Y'know Temari, you're a real nice sister." He climbed inside his puppet. Salamander jumped out the window and made a loud thud when it landed. Intense wind was still blowing so it was hard for him to see. Kankuro looked around for me, but I just wasn't there. Any other puppet would've been destroyed, but Salamander held out. Kankuro climbed back in him and walked through the desert.

* * *

**1 Week Later... Sunday, August 30th 7:30 AM**

I was walking through the village that morning. After getting some ramen for breakfast, I decided to vast Sakura. The village was very busy that day, like when there's a huge celebration or something. Sakura's house was the one with the pink door and white windows at the corner. I walked up to her door only to have her rip it off the handle and run out. Unfortunately I was standing right in front of her. We tumbled down the steps and onto the dirt.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked getting up and brushing herself off. "I can't talk right now; our team was just ordered to the hospital. Follow me." And so I did. We were running there because according to her, it was an emergency. We took a left and a right, another left, and straight on through to the infirmary. We went through the door and standing there was the rest of our team; our sensei, Kakashi, our newest member Sai, and the Hokage herself. There in the hospital bed laid Kankuro of the Sand.

"What's he doing here?" I asked staring down at his unconscious body.

Tsunade held up a clipboard. "We found him at the village gates about an hour ago. It looks like he's been traveling through the rough parts of the desert. It's the shortest way to the village, but its conditions are so brutal that even the Kazekage doesn't advise passage."

"Gaara?" Kankuro moaned slow waking up. He sat up and looked around. "Lady Hokage, has the Kazekage come through here recently?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Why would he be here, especially without a guard team?"

"Well he had one, but now their more likely to kill him that protect him."

"What happened?" Sakura asked checking his vitals.

He hesitated. "...The council framed my brother for murder. They say he killed the new head council man. He ran, before he could be executed. I have to find him before the village does."

Tsunade crossed her arms, "I've never trusted that council. Ever since that new guy got in office things haven't been right in Suna."

Kankuro sighed. "I know. As secretary of defense, I've been getting some strange orders with the army. They wanted me to lead a squad to take over some peaceful village in the outskirts. I refused, so they sent someone else." Kankuro tried to get up off the table but he couldn't swing his legs over the edge.

"You need to rest." Sakura said putting her hand on his shoulder. "Where's Temari."

"That two-timing, two-faced bitch sided with those bastards at the council. As far as I'm concerned, she's no longer related to me or Gaara. She'd rather keep her job than help her own flesh and blood." He finally got up and put on his regular black suit and his cat-eared hat. He walked over to the mirror and applied his face paint. He strapped his puppet-scrolls to his back. He made his way towards the door.

"Wait Kankuro," Tsunade stopped him. "Team Kakashi, go with him."

"I can do this by myself. Gaara's my brother."

I intervened, "Well he's my friend!"

"One of the -kage is missing, this is going to cause a huge uproar in the economic stability of the countries, and it's going to take way more than one Jonin to fix it." Kakashi said. "We're coming."

Kankuro sighed, "Very well, just don't get in my way."

We walked out and headed for the gates.

* * *

**High Noon- 12:00 PM.**

I've been walking through the desert for a while now. Well not walking, I'm still sand so I'm technically flying. Though I'm almost out of chakra so I'm going to have to walk soon. I need to think back to that night. I was on the roof with Viceroy Kyoukou. We were arguing about my position as Kazekage. He charged with a kunai, the only thing my sand did was shield me. I could've told them what happened but they wouldn't believe me. What happened was he, exploded. Temari was wrong, when I sand burial someone there _is _no remains. There was no blood; I always have blood in my sand. I can't believe Temari sided with the council. I changed back to my normal form and walked the rest of the way so my chakra could recharge. Suddenly I heard voices from beyond the sand dunes. I sent out my sand eye to look. I say two figures on top of a giant bird. I had a feeling of exactly who it was; Deidara and Sasori of Akatsuki. They're the ones who tried to capture me for Shukaku. I was able to repel them that night, but I was only fighting one of them. I have no idea what the other one was like. _(AN: In this non-canon timeline, Gaara defeated Deidara that night and still has Shukaku, thus Sasori is still alive.) _My chakra was almost fully charged so I used my jutsu to get up onto the bird. When I arrived, they just happened to be talking about their plan.

"Sasori-Danna, it's not wise to be out of your puppet, un. What if someone attacks?"

"Deidara, one, I'm not the one who put a stink bomb in my puppet. Two, no one is going to attack us in the middle of a dessert and lunch time!" Sasori sighed.

"Who?" Deidara asked confused.

"Tobi." Sasori muttered.

"Of course." Deidara replied. He pulled out a basket full of sandwiches. "Here." He gave one to his partner.

"You made these?" He took a bite. "There good."

"Tobi." Deidara said.

Sasori bit down again. "Really? I guess we shouldn't be so hard on him." Suddenly, they're communicators started beeping. He put down his sandwich and pushed the button in his ear. "Deidara and Sasori, go."

"Hi Sasori, put Deidara-senpei on." Tobi shouted out in glee.

Sasori sighed, "For you."

Deidara put down his food, "Tobi?"

"Hi senpei, how's the mission."

Deidara sighed, again. "Fine, now what do you want?"

Suddenly Tobi's voice went from squeaky and playful to dark and scary.

"You have the package correct?" He asked menacingly.

This time Deidara gulped, "Y-Yes sir. We're en route to Base 13590, north-west of Suna. Tobi."

"Good... Tobi what?"

"T-Tobi-senpei."

"Excellent." And with an evil laugh the line closed.

Deidara looked over at Sasori starting his second sandwich. "What?" He asked.

"You are so lucky -Danna."

"Neither of you are lucky." I said solidifying on the bird behind them. "Especially when you're fighting me."

I stared down at them eating. They were too calm for their own good.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Jinchuuriki. What is he doing here?" Sasori asked.

"I don't know, but this time he won't get away so easily." Deidara said as the both started to melt.

Clay clones? Immediately Deidara round house kicked me from behind and knocked me off the bird. My sand encased my arm and grappled the edge of the bird. I pulled my self up and stood in front of them. "You know Sasori; this bird is a little too small for fighting on here." Deidara pulled his hand out of his pocket and threw it; an even bigger bird appeared next to us. The two Akatsuki members jumped to the next bird. The bird I was still standing on began loosing altitude. I made the jump for it. Deidara made a hand-sign. I wouldn't have made it to the other bird if it wasn't for the force of the blast. I landed on the bird and brushed myself off. Sasori lifted his left arm and pulled down his sleeve. A huge pointed needle came out of the palm of his hand. He swiped at me and my sand shielded me. He continued to attack with his needle but my sand kept blocking it. Next Sasori summoned another needle out of his other hand. "Puppet Jutsu, Whirling Iron." Sasori began spinning at a rapid speed towards me. Even my sand had a hard time defending me. Soon, I was able to deliver a kick and knock him back. It was time to go on the offensive, since my defense was failing. I waved my hand in front of me. "Ninja Art, Sand Disperse." My sand began shooting in all directions. Sasori destroyed some with his needles and Deidara was able to jump out of the way for most of them. In the middle of my firing, the blonde pulled his hand out of his pouch and threw a bunch of little birds at me. I shielded myself from their explosions. I waited until the bird was low enough to the ground then I performed my big hit move. I clasped my hands together, focusing my chakra. "Great Sand Hammer!" Sand began rising up from the desert below and hovered over us, blocking out the sun. The two looked up at the whirling mass overhead. They made a run for it. "Die!" My sand came down on them in a giant lump hopefully crushing them. I looked over the battlefield. It seemed like they were all crushed. Then Sasori's limbs came flying towards me. I had to dodge because my sand wouldn't have blocked them. His arms and legs flew with large knives sticking out of them. His limbs reconnected behind me and Sasori stood there unharmed.

"You ripped my coat, now you're going die!" He shouted.

* * *

We've been walking in the hot desert for hours. Kankuro led; behind him were Kakashi, me, Sakura, and then Sai. It was that really hot part of the day, when the sun was highest in the sky. Kankuro stopped and stared into forward. He pulled out his binoculars and looked at the sky. High up was a large lump of sand. "That's got to be, Gaara. Move out!"


	2. The Debt That All Men Pay

**Gaara's Story: Fall of a Kazekage**

The Debt That All Men Pay

The battle was intense, and it was just getting hotter. Sasori was vicious for how young he looked. Deidara wasn't as effective in close combat than when he was in the air. Unfortunately the same thing was happening in this battle that happened all those years ago against Sasuke and Lee in the Chunin exams. Sasori's so quick that my sand can't defend against all his attacks. Fortunately I still have one advantage over him. Sasori pulled a scroll out of a compartment in his wooden body. He unraveled it and flicked the end at me. Out of the scroll flew sever kunai at high speed, my sand defended me. He kept doing this, only it felt like a distraction. I sent my sand flowing towards him, it formed a giant hadn't and threw him off the bird. I looked over the edge and found he landed safely on another bird with his partner... if they're on that bird than this bird... I quickly jumped off the bird, a moment before it blew up. I crash landed on the next battle field.

"You're really putting up a fight, Shukaku." Sasori taunted "Wouldn't it be easier to just give in?"

I growled, "My name is Gaara, and I'm going to kill you!" I tackled him and started beating his face in, not something I normally do.

He laughed, "I'm made of wood, do you think that hurts, you idiot?"

"No, but I know what will." On top of Sasori was a sand clone. My clone disintegrated back into sand. "Sand Coffin!"

Sasori was raised into the air, covered in a prison of sand. "You think you can kill me?"

I stood in front of him. "Sand Burial!" I crushed him in sand and when it was finished Sasori was a pile of parts. I felt a hard hit against the back of my head, most likely caused by Deidara. He ran over to the pile of cogs and gears and took the only organic part of Sasori, his heart container. Deidara glared over at me and jumped off the bird. He made his hand-sign. "Katsu!"

Boom.

* * *

__

-N-

Boom.

"Gaara!" Kankuro shouted. We saw the explosion up close. Our team had finally reached the battle only to have it blow up in our faces. Kankuro was jaw-dropped. He ran as fast as he could. As the dust cleared we saw Gaara on his knees, Deidara holding Sasori's heart. Deidara pulled a small red scroll out of his coat pocket and opened it on the ground. He made his hand-signs and summoned a whole other body for Sasori. He slid the heart canister into the hole of the puppet and Sasori got up, good as new.

"What happened?" Sasori asked rubbing his head.

"We won this time. We're not only bringing Leader the parcel, but also the one-tailed Shukaku." He chuckled.

"Don't you lay one finger on my brother." Kankuro shouted releaseing Crow and Black Ant.

"Deidara, take the package and the Jinchuriki to the base."

Deidara reached down to grab Gaara but he shattered.

"Damn that little brat." Deidara cursed.

Sasori summoned the Third Kazekage puppet. "Forget the kid, just get that package out of here, that's more important right now."

"I need time to get it ready." He argued.

"Just go!" The red head shouted angrily.

Deidara ran for it. Kakashi and I followed. I tried throwing kunai but Deidara dodged them all without looking back; he was actually very agile. Eventually Deidara threw a bird above him and it exploded into a small speeder. He jumped up, and luclily, we were able to catch a ride. Deidara put the small box in his coat pocket and faced us. "Ah, you must the nine-tailed Jinchuriki Itachi-san told me about. He's said you put him through a lot of trouble, and your little friend Sasuke as well. I must thank you, that damn Itachi deserves it. And you, the infamous Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake. Let's see if you can copy me. Come, Kyuubi, fight me!" Deidara taunted as he threw some birds at us.

"My name's Naruto, don't any of you morons get that? I'm not that damn fox!" I charged with a kunai. He grabbed my arm and spun me around. I would've fallen off the bird if one of Kakashi's shadow clones hadn't caught me. "Be more careful Naruto, from seeing his movements I can tell that he's not one for close combat. But if you charge he'll throw you off. He has the advantage." I created three shadow clones of my own and charged at him again. Deidara grabbed the me on the left and smashed him into all the other Naruto clones. Deidara threw several huge birds at Kakashi, they blew up and he flew backwards. "I can't copy his moves. Now were at two disadvantages." Kakashi made his hand-signs. "Water Style, Giant Vortex Jutsu." A giant vortex of water shot at Deidara. He tried to dodged but he was one minute too late. He fell on his back and almost fell off the bird.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu." A hundred other me's appeared on the bird and charged Deidara. He stood up and looked at all the clones charging. He smirked, not good. He stomped his foot and the bird began turning upside down. A lot of my clones forgot they had to use chakra and they fell off; only ten remained. We were all wasting chakra too keep from falling off; Deidara knew that. We would eventually fall off, but he had a few spare birds already made. We had to beat him before that happened. Kakashi charged his lightening blade. He ran towards Deidara arm extended. We had this in the bag.

* * *

__

-G-

Hopefully Naruto's fight is going better than ours. Anything Kankuro throws at Sasori, he'd counter. I was hiding in the sand waiting for Sasori to step into the open area. I'd more of a liability attacking directly because of my defenses failing, so I'm assisting Kankuro the best way I could. Also, this was Kankuro's fight, puppet master verses puppet master. If he could just lure Sasori over to the plain I could finish him. Sakura charged at him. Sasori had his Third Kazekage puppet out. He sent him flying towards her. Sakura punched it in the face and he cut her on the arm with it's sword. Sakura jumped back and healed her wound. Sasori was just playing with them all.

"See, Sakura-chan, the thing about puppets is that they don't feel pain. You can hit them all you want, you can burn them, smash them, crush them... but you can't kill them!" Sasori puppet had two large blades connected on its arms. He sent it spinning towards her like a tornado. Kankuro sent Black Ant to defend her.

"Don't call me Sakura-chan." She threatened. "I'm gonna rip that puppet limb from limb." Sasori's puppet charged toward her. Sakura dodged it's attacks and grabbed it's arms. She put her foot on it's chest and started ripping his arms off. She pulled of the puppet's arms and swung them at the Kazekage. Kankuro charged towards Sasori with all three of his puppets. "I'm taking you down, Sasori. Both of you, stay back!" Sasori threw his broke puppet aside and pulled of his cloak, revealing his full body. Sasori released his spinning arm-blades and his over-sized, poison-tip stomach cable. The cable shot out at Kankuro who blocked it with Crow. However, this broke Crow's chest cavity and disabled many of his weapons. Kankuro used Crow to shoot dozens of needles towards the Akatsuki member. Sasori did a back-flip and completely evaded the shot. "I built these puppets, I know all their flaws." He taunted. Kankuro sneered, "Well I made a few adjustments. Go, Salamander, Heavy Drop." Kankuro flicked his arm into the air and his largest puppet jumped into the air. Sasori was going to drop, but I used my sand to hold him in place. "Damn it!" Kankuro's puppet landed hard on top of the red head, that isn't me. Kankuro recently adjusted the joints so I was more agile, and add weights to the bottom to make it heavier.

Kankuro pulled the strings back and forth, "Salamander, Heavy Stomp." His puppet began jumping up and down repeatedly ontop of Sasori's poor broken body. Talk about over kill, not that I'm complaining. Everyone was silent, waiting to see if Sasori could be killed. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. You know what they say about 'the debt that all men pay?' That's death, though it comes quicker to some than others, it'll without a doubt. Sasori shot up into the air and shot needles down at Kankuro. My brother wasn't quick enough and got stabbed in the stomach. He needed to go on the defensive now or risk losing the fight.

He threw all his puppets in front of him, only Sasori knew all of the puppets weaknesses. First was Crow, Sasori chopped off all its limbs with his whirling blades. Next he smashed right into Black Ant's stomach with his stomach cable. Then, he brought out his giant pointed needles from his hands. He stabbed the focal points of Salamander's shield. Kankuro lost, only this wasn't training; Sasori would show no mercy. All of Kankuro's puppets were broken and wouldn't function until he fixed them, which would never happen. Sasori dashed towards him and stabbed him right through the chest with his left needle, then his right, and repeatedly did this until he was sure Kankuro would perish. Next, Sasori shot his poison cable through Kankuro's stomach; he began coughing up blood.

"I am the true puppet master, Sasori of the Red Sand!" Sasori cried. His cable flung Kankuro into the air. Sasori raised his hand up and he was impaled on the spike. He lowered his arm and my brother's body slid right off. "Who's next."

"You're finished!" I growled rising from the sand as my jutsu was completed. "Ninja Art, Sand Fissure!" I put hands on the ground. A large rumbling began as the earth began to shake. With the rest of my chakra I opened a giant crevice in the ground; Sasori would never escape this.

* * *

_-N-_

Kakashi ran towards Deidara with his Lighting Blade. This was it, I was sure we'd win. Kakashi-sensei smashed right into Deidara with his jutsu; right through his heart. Only now, Deidara melted into a pile of clay. After a moment of silence, Kakashi was wide-eyed. Suddenly, Kakashi ran towards me. He wrapped his arms around me and together we jumped off the bird. We went flying towards the ground. The whole bird exposed. We landed hard and rolled around on the ground.

"By now, Deidara's got to be out of chakra. Most likely he'll be running on foot. We have to catch him."

I nodded. Just when I thought he wouldn't get away...

* * *

_-G-_

The fissure was closing in on Sasori. Just when I thought he wouldn't get away, he jumped into the air and his spinning arm blades acted like propellers and he hovered over the swift moving trench. Sasori smirked and began flying towards us. My chakra was drained, that was my largest move right now. What could Sakura do again?

Sakura pulled out some special kunai with a little pink bag tied to the ends. She threw them at the descending Sasori. In mid-flight, in a poof of smoke, the kunai released dozens of little black pellets. "Ninja Art, Sakura Blossom Bullets!" Normally those pellets would've went straight through some guy, but of course this was Sasori and there is nothing normal about him. Being that he was made of wood, the bullets had no effect on his body. What they did do was that a few dented his propellers spiraling him out of control. Unable to control his flight pattern, Sasori crash landed right into the fissure. I quickly made a swiping motions with my arm and the crack began to close on top of him. I could feel Sasori trying to claw his way out. He was able to reach the top only to have the crevice close around his left leg. He tried to pull, but he was grounded. "Damn! This is the last body I have with me! That's it, you're both gonna die!" He shouted in anger.

"Wait both? Where's Sai?" Sakura asked looking around. Sasori opens up his chest cavity and releases a hundred chakra strings. He pulls out his last scroll and releases the seal. "Red Secret Technique, Performance of a Hundred Puppets." Sasori released a hundred puppets into the air, all equipped with poison knives and chakra blades. Sasori raised his hand into the air and clenched his fist. Fifty of the puppets went towards Sakura. Sakura dodged one of their swords, punched one right in the face, and took one of their arms and broke it in half. She delivered a spin kick to a few of their heads and snaped one of their necks. Sasori sent the other fifty flying in her direction. It was one-on- one hundred, and Sakura was winning. She grabbed one of his puppets and ripped it's arm off. Using it's own sword Sakura cut through it and swiped at another group of puppets. She must of used her super strength as she threw the blade into the air and impaled multiple on the stick. I used my sand to crush most of them.

"It's a lot different fighting you than your brother. You actually give me a challenge. Oh, by the way? His pulse just died." Sasori threw his head back and laughed maniacally at our folly. "That's what's wrong with having a flesh and blood. You die..." He snapped his wooden fingers. "Just like that!" He smirked. I could feel the anger boiling up inside me. My brother, the only person who actually believed I was innocent, was lieing there dead, with a dozen holes in his torso. I was going to finish him for good. I raised my hand towards him. "Sand Coffin." Sasori became encased in sand and flew into the air. "We already tried this, Gaara-kun. You can't kill me like this!" He shouted. I clenched my other hand into a fist. Several large, six-foot-tall daggers made of sand formed around the floating Sasori. I clasped my hands together. "For Kankuro, Supreme Needle Burial!" The daggers flew into Sasori, impaling him in all directions. From his gasp I could tell I finally impaled his heart. "You claim to have cut all your ties to humanity, well... you missed one."


End file.
